Customers are increasingly being refused a refund after their bank card was stolen or accounts hacked. If a current account is hacked and fraudsters start making purchases and cash withdrawals using the card and pin – intercepted by the crooks – most customers would expect the bank to repay the losses without question. If a wallet is stolen from a locked car, with the pin heavily disguised, most people would still expect the bank to refund any money withdrawn. But, despite clear rules that state banks can only refuse to refund a customer if he or she has acted "fraudulently" or had been "grossly negligent", there is growing evidence that the banks are taking a tougher line and refusing a refund – in some cases for the sole reason the thief used the card with a merchant the account holder had also done business with.
Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the account holder was miles away at the time, and it could not have been them, some banks have been insisting their customer is liable. If you are one of millions of people who has written down your pin – even as part of heavily disguised code that only you can decipher – the implications are worrying.

This week Guardian Money was contacted by a Sheffield couple who lost £1,260 after their wallet, plus a mobile phone and a satnav, were stolen from the glove compartment of their locked car. Within a few hours the thief had taken cash out of two HSBC accounts – one personal and one business....Read more here--: Banks are trying to pin the blame for card fraud on … you | Money | The Guardian